Nascar and Racing Mark Martin

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Mark Martin winces, then breaks into a grin every time he hears the introduction.

"Ladies and gentlemen ... Mark Martin, who is attempting to become the oldest champion in NASCAR history."

The difference between this week and years ago is that Martin grinned. He's been doing that a lot lately.

Martin trails his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson by 108 points entering Sunday's Ford 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway. Johnson, 34, only needs to finish 25th or better to clinch a historic fourth consecutive title.

Martin, 50, is still looking for his first.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The hard-core conspirators will think NASCAR scripted it. The reality is Jimmie Johnson was the fastest driver of the day.

Johnson will start his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet from the pole position in Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway -- the ultimate beginning to the last chapter in his quest to become the first driver to win four consecutive championships.

Of all things Johnson knocked his Hendrick Motorsports teammate -- and only title challenger left -- Mark Martin off the top spot on the qualifying speed chart. Johnson leads Martin by 108 points and needs only to finish 25th or better to clinch his historic championship.

MIAMI -- NASCAR's Championship Weekend officially kicked off Thursday during a contenders press conference that couldn't have been less like boxing's version of a pre-bout showdown. This was more meet-and-greet than stare-and-glare.

The players here -- three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin -- like each other, so much so it was difficult to remember that they are actually competing against one another.

Johnson gushed about what a great driver Martin is. And Martin humbly insisted he was just happy to be in position to challenge Johnson. And their team owner Rick Hendrick maintained, "I'm just living the dream."

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The cloudy white smoke from Jimmie Johnson's marathon victory burnout at Phoenix International Raceway Sunday seemed to have a double meaning.

On one hand, it was a celebration for all that Johnson has done right in the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup as he marches towards an improbable fourth straight Sprint Cup championship in the season's final race next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

But on the other, it seemed to identify a brutal certainty for two of NASCAR's marquee drivers as once again Mark Martin's (2nd in points) and Jeff Gordon's (3rd) collective shots at NASCAR's biggest crown were figuratively going up in smoke.

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Where: Phoenix Int'l Raceway
Time: Sunday 3:15 PM ET
TV/Radio: ABC, MRN Radio
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Mostly sunny, High 60s
Distance: 312 laps (312 miles)
Pole Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson

What makes any NASCAR finish exciting, and any sporting event for that matter, is when the unexpected happens. A last-second shot, a last-second touchdown, an underdog felling a Goliath and even a last lap pass -- yes, even Jimmie Johnson smacking the wall last week at Texas -- all create the unanticipated result that feeds into creating the rush of a sporting event.

Unfortunately, the most recent data we have from Phoenix International Raceway doesn't leave a lot of hope that we'll be seeing the unforeseen Sunday afternoon at the 1-miler.

The chaos of Lap 3 last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway certainly tossed the NASCAR world into a frenzy.

When the dust settled, version one of the No. 48 Texas Chevrolet became version two and both Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon failed to add the word "clutch" to their 2009 resumes, one point about NASCAR's most dominant driver became exceedingly clear.

Jimmie Johnson, point being, is still the de facto guy to beat for the 2009 Sprint Cup championship -- and it's going to take plenty more Texas-like highly unlikely events to keep three-time from becoming four-time.

Notes, quotes and a dash of commentary from a NASCAR weekend in Texas.

What a difference a crew chief makes.

Kyle Busch, a Sprint Cup nobody in the last few weeks, rocketed back to his expected form with new team leader Dave Rogers calling the shots Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch had the dominant car and led 232 of 334 laps before a fuel miscalculation or a blind shot at a win kept him from making history by being the first driver to win three races in one weekend.

And strangely, Busch's old form of letting his crew chief do the post-race talking returned, too.

Notes, quotes & commentary from a NASCAR weekend at Talladega.

What a weekend it was, huh? Yes, I do have some comments and ideas about the overall product at Talladega this week. I'm going to wait, though, until the end of this post. First, the finer notes on Sunday.

Can anyone make sense of NASCAR's pit road penalties? Had Sunday's race been at another track where track position isn't so easily gained like it is at Talladega, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart and eventual race winner Jamie McMurray would have been downright hosed.

And good or bad as it relates to your particular driver, the rule that nabbed them just isn't fair.

Where: Talladega Superspeedway
Time: Sunday 1:00 p.m. EST
TV/Radio: ABC, MRN Radio
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Sunny, High 60s
Distance: 188 laps (500 miles)
Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson
2008 Winner: Tony Stewart

Is there another sport that turns on its winners so?

And cheering against the New York Yankees doesn't count.

Another superb run in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship has put Jimmie Johnson in position for a historic fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title. He's on the verge of accomplishing something Richard Petty, the late Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon never did.

And for all his hard work and performance under pressure here's the thanks he gets: people are accusing him of stinking up the show.

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